


Spirit of Passion

by theorangewitch



Series: Angstober [10]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Canon Dead Character, Gen, Ghosts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 09:24:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16261328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theorangewitch/pseuds/theorangewitch
Summary: “Not ghosts, ghosts are living,” Nicoletta explained. “Well not living, obviously, but. They have more substance. Spirits are more like remnants, imprints on the world. Bits of emotional energy that have a small amount of sentience and a fair bit of power, for people who can harness it. They hang around people or places after they die.”Beau looked back at Caduceus, who was lost in thought, wondering if he had ever seen spirits before. She hadn’t. Was she constantly surrounded by the dead? It was a horrifying concept.“Can you...harness their power?” Caleb asked. He was gazing at her with a fascination that Beau had only ever seen him give the dodecahedron.“Of course. I’m a witch, it’s what we do. It’s kind of a lost art, though, to be honest. Helenus taught it to me, and he picked it up from some travelers who stayed in town when we were kids,” Nicoletta explained. “But it’s not so hard once you get the hang of it. Though most people can’t bind Spirits or speak to them, they can sense their presence.” Her eyes flicked over each of their forms. “Really, you all have so many spirits clinging to you that I’m surprised you haven’t communicated with one by accident."





	Spirit of Passion

**Author's Note:**

> Day 10 of Angstober - Ghost! This time featuring the witch class, which is my favorite homebrew class, and the emotional remnants of a certain someone. I'll put a link to the witch class guide at the end of these notes. 
> 
> As usual, the link to all of the Angstober prompts is in the author's note of the first work in this series. 
> 
> https://dnd-5e-homebrew.tumblr.com/post/138019533480/witch-class-by-zarieth

Beau already didn’t understand magic. She’d never considered herself smart, really, at least not book smart, but magic was even further beyond her realm of understanding than math or astronomy. It ruled her whole world, and yet it remained a mystery to her. She didn’t really ever mind, though. She punched things and she could run fast and jump high and that was about all. Doing those things made her useful, and that was enough. And when she encountered magic, she always had someone around who did understand it. When she was a child, it was her brother. Then it was the Cobalt Soul. Then it was Caleb. Someone who could handle any magic that got tossed their way. 

Until the Mighty Nein encountered Nicoletta Cairn. 

It was supposed to be a simple job. A warehouse just outside of Zadash previously controlled by the Myriad had been raided by an unknown party. This had caused a bit of a stir, a local had called the Crownsguard, and the Crownsguard had proceeded to seize said warehouse. The Mighty Nein were tasked with regaining control of the warehouse and, if they were lucky, find some clues that would lead them to the guilty party. It took balls to raid a Myriad warehouse, and skill to do it without being caught. Beau wasn’t sure if the Gentleman wanted to punish the perpetrators or hire them. 

They arrived at the warehouse just after midnight, and after subduing a few guards, they’d snuck in. The warehouse was made up of one large central room with two adjacent offices. But as the entered the main room, stacked floor to ceiling with illegal goods, they found no guards.

“Maybe they’re posted in the offices?” Beau offered.

“Best we dispatch them now. Sooner we do sooner we can secure this place,” Fjord said. Everyone agreed with Fjord, as they usually did. So they made their way around the edge of the warehouse to one of the offices, the door to which was unlocked.

When they entered, they found the guards. Fast asleep. In a pile on the floor. There were at least ten all crammed into the tiny space. 

“What the fuck,” Beau murmured. 

Fjord whirled around, summoning his falchion into his hand. “Someone’s already been here. This ain’t a natural sleep. Everyone stick together.”

Maybe they were in luck. Maybe the original perpetrator was still here, ready for them to apprehend. They slipped between the shelves of goods, Nott’s yellow eyes darting back and forth in her head like a pair of lightning bugs, until they reached the center of the warehouse. There was a skylight in the top, and the moon shone through and illuminated the ground below. And there, sitting in the middle of everything, was a young woman. 

Or at least Beau thought it was a young woman. She wore a wide-brimmed black hat with a black veil draping down around her that obscured her form, and her back to was to them. 

“Is that a girl?” Beau asked.

“I think so,” Caleb replied. “What is she doing here?”

“Maybe she’s the one who put the guards to sleep,” Jester suggested. 

“Maybe she’s the one who attacked this place when the Myriad had it,” Fjord added.

Beau shook her head. “No way. That was definitely more than one person.”

“Maybe she’s an illusion,” Nott said. “A distraction from the real perpetrators.”

“I don’t think so, Nott,” Caleb told her gently. 

“I can hear you, you know,” the woman said. “You’re not being very quiet. But I’m done here.” She stood up, wiping her hands on her long black dress before turning around. “Do you need something?” 

Beau was surprised to see that under her veil, her expression was extremely pleasant. She was young, too, younger than Beau, barely more than a teenager. 

“Are you an illusion?” Nott asked before anyone (including herself) could stop her.

“No,” the woman laughed. “I’m Nicoletta. Nicoletta Cairn.” Nicoletta stuck her hand out. Nobody took it. 

“Are you the one who put those guards to sleep?” Fjord asked cautiously. 

Nicoletta nodded. “They’ll wake up in about twenty-four hours, no harm done if you’re worried about them. But you guys don’t look like guards.”

Beau darted up to her to stare her in the face, which may have been cherubic but that didn’t mean it was any less dangerous. “Are you the one who raided this place three nights ago?”

“No,” Nicoletta replied. “That was my brother. Or I think it was him, anyway. I was about to find out when you guys interrupted.”

“Find...out?” Caduceus said, speaking for the first time since they arrived. 

Nicoletta looked up at him, eyes widening. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “You’re big! And pink! And you have so many Spirits around you!”

“Spirits?” Jester asked.

“Spirits?” Caduceus echoed. 

“Spirits!” Nicoletta explained. “They’re who I was talking to just now. I’ve been on Helenus—my brother’s trail for a while now, and this situation has his fingerprints all over it. I’m talking to the spirits of the people who died here a couple of nights ago to confirm it was him and find out where he went.”

“Spirits, like...ghosts?” Beau asked. Jester had used  _ speak with dead  _ that one time, but she’d needed a corpse to do it. If Beau had seen correctly, Nicoletta had been talking to no one but the empty air. Beau shivered. They hadn’t encountered many undead, but they gave her the creeps. 

“Not ghosts, ghosts are living,” Nicoletta explained. “Well not  _ living _ , obviously, but. They have more substance. Spirits are more like remnants, imprints on the world. Bits of emotional energy that have a small amount of sentience and a fair bit of power, for people who can harness it. They hang around people or places after they die.”

Beau looked back at Caduceus, who was lost in thought, wondering if he had ever seen spirits before. She hadn’t. Was she constantly surrounded by the dead? It was a horrifying concept. 

“Can you...harness their power?” Caleb asked. He was gazing at her with a fascination that Beau had only ever seen him give the dodecahedron. 

“Of course. I’m a witch, it’s what we do. It’s kind of a lost art, though, to be honest. Helenus taught it to me, and he picked it up from some travelers who stayed in town when we were kids,” Nicoletta explained. “But it’s not so hard once you get the hang of it. Though most people can’t bind Spirits or speak to them, they can sense their presence.” Her eyes flicked over each of their forms. “Really, you all have so many spirits clinging to you that I’m surprised you haven’t communicated with one by accident.” She pointed to Caleb. “You have a Spirit of Agony—two, actually—hanging off of you.” She pointed to Fjord. “And you have a Spirit of Hate and a Spirit of Sorrow attached to you.” Then to Beau. “You have a Spirit of Envy attached you you.” Then Caduceus. “And you have more Spirits than I can name.” Then Jester. “And you have a Spirit of Passion.” Her brow furrowed. “Though Passion seems to have attached itself to all of you. Right now it’s sort of curled itself around your shoulders like a cat.” Nicoletta smiled at Jester, taking off her hat, its veil coming with it. “It’s kind of cute, actually. It’s pretty rare that a Spirit does that, attaches itself to multiple people. It usually only happens with dead children attaching themselves to both their parents. This Spirit must like you guys a lot.”

Jester looked over at Beau, a shard of pain in her eyes, and Beau knew what she was thinking.  _ Molly?  _ But not really Molly, just a remnant of him, an imprint of his personality. Beau looked over at Caleb, who was staring off into the middle distance, shocked out of reality the way he sometimes was when he killed something with fire. Caduceus was looking around hurriedly like he was chasing a fly with his eyes. Even Fjord looked taken aback, rubbing the back of his head with one hand. Finally he sighed and said, “This seems pretty snake oily to me, Nicoletta. No offense.”

She shrugged. “None taken. Most people don’t believe me. Do you want me to prove it?”

“Could you?” Caduceus asked. “This sounds fascinating. I’d love to see it work.”

“Sure,” Nicoletta replied. “Binding Spirits is one of the key parts of being a witch. These rites help us harness the power of said Spirits in order to make ourselves and our magic stronger. How about I bind this Spirit of Passion? It seems nicer than the others. Besides, I like Spirits of Passion. It’s like drinking ten cups of coffee without the caffeine headache later.” 

Nicoletta held out her hands, her fingers spread wide. She closed her eyes. “I like to ask permission first. I don’t have to, but binding is easier if the Spirit is willing. Most are. They draw energy from me even as I draw power from them.” She took a deep breath. “Spirit of Passion, I ask you to grant me permission to bind you to my body, mind, and soul, so that I may use your power for the greater good, and you may use my energy to sustain yourself.” Then her eyes flew open, glowing with blinding white light before fading back to their normal brown. She exhaled then smiled, a little bit of sadness hanging in her eyes. Then she began to speak, “Molly says he misses you. Says he wish he could help you. Says to say hi to Yasha when she comes back. Says he liked you, Beau, even if you think he didn’t. Says he’s proud of you, Nott, and to keep stealing from grumpy people. Says you’re on the right track, Fjord, and don’t blame yourself because nothing could’ve been done. Says he supports you, Caleb. Unconditionally. Says that you should hang onto your optimism, Jester, and even if the Gentleman is your dad and even if he is a dick you’re a wonderful person without a father. Says he likes you, Caduceus, and he likes that you take care of everyone.” As she bounced from person to person, delivering Molly’s messages, she seemed to know who every member of the Mighty Nein was, despite them never introducing themselves, and every one of them wilted under her gaze and the weight of Molly’s words that lay behind it. 

Jester was sitting down, and Nott was propping herself up on Jester’s horns. Fjord was leaning on one of the shelves, his head hung low. Caleb, too was staring at the floor. Beau herself was shaken to her core. Only Caduceus seemed unaffected. He was staring at Nicoletta in rapt awe. 

Nicoletta noticed their change in mood. “Sorry. I just. Thought I’d deliver his messages. I mean, those aren’t his exact words, I’m just interpreting the emotions and images he’s conveying to me and—and this isn’t really him. Really his ghost. It’s just a piece of it. But he loves you. With his whole being. Even the part that isn’t bound to me. And he’s...going to find his way back to you. At the very least, he’s going to try.” Her fingers tangled in her skirt and she was clutching onto her hat so tightly that Beau thought her fingers might press right through it. “I should get back to asking about my brother now. I’ll release Molly for you. He seems happy with you. As happy as a Spirit can be, anyway.” Nicoletta took another deep breath, her eyes glowing white again. “Good luck on getting your friend back,” she said. And then she awkwardly speed-walked away, disappearing between the shelves of the warehouse. 


End file.
